Christmas According To Isaiah (2023) Series

What’s in a Name?

Isaiah 9:6

First Baptist Chenoa

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

12-24-2023

Scavenger Hunt

[Cutting up slips of paper]

Every Christmas Eve, long after everyone has gone to bed, you can find me downstairs cutting up slips of paper. I thought I’d get a head start tonight.

Each of the slips of paper has a rhyme that points to a clue. Each clue leads to a present that contains another slip of paper with another clue. Usually, four or five small gifts lead up to a large one at the end.

I hide each of the gifts and clues in various places around the house.

On Christmas morning, the boys and I open our presents first. Then Maxine gets to have her scavenger hunt. There is a slip of paper somewhere on the tree that will begin her on a journey of clues and presents. I love watching her dig through the freezer for foot warmers or under the bed for her newest book. The Goose loves this tradition as well.

Since I’m already in “scavenger hunt” mode, I thought we would do a hunt through a few verses in Isaiah to see if we can find the clues that lead to the greatest present of all time.

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Isaiah 9.

Prayer

A Name Prophesied

I recently met a woman in her 20s and I asked her if her parents were big Rod Stewart fans. She said, “Of course!” Her name was Maggie Mae.”

I know a student named Rio and I asked her if her parents were Duran Duran fans. Yes, they named her after the song.

There was a basketball player for the Fighting Illini a few years ago named Maverick Morgan. Yes, his parents named him after Tom Cruise’s character in the movie “Top Gun.”

I went to high school with a girl named Arwen, named after an Elf Princess in Lord of the Rings.

I’ve met students named Ariel and Elsa. I know a pastor who named his son Calvin, after John Calvin.

My name is Jefferson, not Jeffrey. I was named after my grandfather, Elmer Jefferson, who was named after Thomas Jefferson. My name means “son of peace.”

When I was single and working at a children’s home in North Carolina, I would eat dinner with Rico and Linda Delprado. They were New Yorkers, from the Bronx, and felt sorry for me. They would feed me a home-cooked meal and Rico would lay his huge calloused hands on my head and pray for me before I left.

One night, as Rico was praying for me something happened that I would never forget. Rico began to cry and said, “Look up at me.” He continued, his voice quivering, “You shall have a son and you shall name him Joshua for he will be a leader of men and Michael for he will be a warrior for God.” I just remember whispering back, “Yes sir.”

I was single but I did know a cute little red-headed girl named Maxine…

When my first-born son came into this world we didn’t have to worry about picking out names. It had been prophesied beforehand.

Names are very important and I do all I can to try to learn names and get them right. When someone remembers your name, it feels affirming. When someone can’t remember your name, it can feel like they don’t care.

We are going to be looking and one verse this morning - one verse and four names. But these four names have the power to change your life!

Turn with me to Isaiah 9:6.

Prayer

Not the First to Do This

Rico wasn’t the first to do this. When Zachariah and Elizabeth (close to 80 years old) had a son they named him John, although no one in their family had that name. Why? Because the angel told his father to name him John and said:

 “He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:14-17)

When the angel appeared to Mary, he too gave her the name of the baby to be born to her:

“Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:30-33)